head light questions

[ronspike]

okay when i drive at night vision is a problem...so i want to upgrade my headlights and not get scammed out of 150 dollars for more crap...HID's just give me a bad feeling buying them from Ebay.
are they safe to buy?
any tips?
what should i buy?

[Bitter]

philips x-treme +80 are good bulbs and come in H4 for the stock head lights (assuming you're a 1st revision 8th gen). if not then 9012 HIR are good.

[Milky]

DDMtuning.com plug and play hid kits with lifetime warranty 39.00 + shipping. they even include the h4 glare shields. just dont order anything over 6k or you will have really bad glare.

[toyotaman11]

Originally Posted by Milky

DDMtuning.com plug and play hid kits with lifetime warranty 39.00 + shipping. they even include the h4 glare shields. just dont order anything over 6k or you will have really bad glare.

Is this something that you have gotten from them?

Basically what we need is the kit with the H4 bulbs right?

[Milky]

Originally Posted by toyotaman11

Is this something that you have gotten from them?

Basically what we need is the kit with the H4 bulbs right?

yes. its the apexcone raptor kit. and yes i have it and love it.

[toyotaman11]

Originally Posted by Milky

yes. its the apexcone raptor kit. and yes i have it and love it.

Cool I think im going to buy it. Although I bought crapstar ultras a couple months ago.

Did you get the 35 watt or 55 watt kit?

[Milky]

35 watt. enough light for me.

[toyotaman11]

Originally Posted by Milky

35 watt. enough light for me.

Is the install pretty easy? Where did you end up mounting the ballasts?

[Milky]

super easy. its plug and play. takes like 10 minutes. the ballasts are mounted right behind the headlights in the engine bay.

[Bitter]

it will still glare annoyingly with shields.

[toyotaman11]

Originally Posted by Bitter

it will still glare annoyingly with shields.

Yeah so I read from the HID post war.

My only concern is getting pulled over. I live in rural Illinois, so I am not sure how the cop response will be. I am thinking about going 35w and either 4500k or 6000k. Not sure which will be less conspicuous?

[Milky]

4300 would be better. 6000 is a very cool white. has a light bit of blue. if your worried about it then dont go past 5000.

and it will glare worse with higher kelvin temps. 5000k is pure white. it will have less glare than 6000k. likewise with 4300 would have less than 5000. this is because blue light happens to be on the same wavelenght as most particles in the atmosphere. hence why the bluer it gets the worse the glare. sub 6000 is perfectly managable even in non hid housings, despite what the haters may say.

[MFCC08]

Wow this is a really great price and bargain!!! So if we got the 55w, we wouldn't need any special hook ups or anything would we??

[AlaricD]

Originally Posted by Milky

DDMtuning.com plug and play hid kits with lifetime warranty 39.00 + shipping. they even include the h4 glare shields. just dont order anything over 6k or you will have really bad glare.

Those are junk, and illegal, pure and simple.

The reflector housing is designed for a straight filament; HID bulbs produce an arc, which by definition is curved. The beam pattern will be way off and cannot be adjusted for by reaiming.

Originally Posted by toyotaman11

My only concern is getting pulled over. I live in rural Illinois, so I am not sure how the cop response will be. I am thinking about going 35w and either 4500k or 6000k. Not sure which will be less conspicuous?

The maximum legal nominal wattage for HIDs is 35, the legal nominal color temperature range is 4100-4250K.

4500 would be less conspicuous and generate less glare for you and other drivers. Still, HID kits installed in assemblies designed for filament bulbs are unsafe and illegal.

Originally Posted by MFCC08

Wow this is a really great price and bargain!!! So if we got the 55w, we wouldn't need any special hook ups or anything would we??

Again, the maximum legal nominal wattage for HIDs is 35.

Is it really a bargain to get ticketed or your vehicle impounded due to illegal headlight modifications?

As Bitter pointed out, there are better legal options.

If you have headlights with the 9003/H4/HB2 bulbs (1998-2000, combined low/high beam functions) then get these. If you have separate low/high beam lights (2001+), then get these 9006 bulbs for the low beams, and these 9011 bulbs for the high beams (requires a base modification).

Also, if your night vision is that poor, there are things you can do to help with that. One technique is to wear very dark sunglasses indoors for about 20 or 30 minutes before going out to your car, removing them only when you're ready to start the car (careful walking out to it in the dark!) to help your eyes adjust to the darkness.

Also, if you are nearsighted, wear corrective lenses, and avoid high color temperature lights on your car because blue light already focuses in front of the retina-- it's even worse for those already nearsighted. Talk to your optometrist or an opthalmogist for additional ideas and testing. Poor night vision could be the sign of other problems.

One last thing: Make sure the lenses are clean and clear, and that the lights are aimed properly.

[ae111]

I agree wholeheartedly with Alaric. Ran a so-called "plug-and-play" H4 HID kit for a year back before I knew any better. The light output was, in total honesty, much greater than any halogen (I also run H9-converted fogs boosted to 15.2V), and this will trick you for a bit. However, you can actually see LESS on the road than if you were to use normal halogen bulb replacements, if that makes any sense. There are so many hotspots, and the beam pattern becomes simply ridiculous.

How can you tell you are glaring oncoming drivers? The sharp cutoff at the top of the beam pattern that makes a sort of V or Z shape will disappear when you run HID bulbs in a halogen reflector headlight.

Granted, I a have a RHD beam pattern and JDM lights, but should be the same difference to y'all USDM folks.

Just my two cents from personal experience, hope it helps somebody (anybody?)